Upton out of lineup for lack of hustle

Outfielder benched Wednesday for not running out grounder

ST. PETERSBURG -- B.J. Upton was out of the Rays' starting lineup Wednesday afternoon, as manager Joe Maddon was miffed that the outfielder didn't run out a ground ball in Tuesday night's game.

"When it comes down to individual effort, it takes absolutely zero talent -- zero -- to try hard and play hard every day," Maddon said. "I'm OK with physical mistakes, with mental mistakes; I'm accepting of all that. The part that I'm not accepting of is the part that you can control. And that's your effort."

The Rays skipper was particularly upset about Upton's lack of hustle given the talk him he had with the team in Kansas City, following a similar incident with Akinori Iwamura.

"Without any gray areas, [I] told them exactly what was going to happen," Maddon said of the meeting. "And it's happening."

Upton gave a lackadaisical jog to first base in his final at-bat, after hitting the ball back to pitcher Edward Mujica, and Maddon would have preferred to remove the outfielder immediately but was out of position players.

The 23-year-old Upton has often shown flashes of superior effort, including a stellar catch in the seventh inning on Tuesday, retiring Cleveland's Ben Francisco on a deep fly ball.

"You just can't pick and choose when you put your effort out there," Maddon said. "It has be all the time."

Typically a laid-back manager, Maddon said he addressed the matter directly following Tuesday's game and that Upton "listened" accordingly.

"It just comes down to respect," Maddon said. "Respect for yourself and respect for the organization."